# Going to Coimbra - any tips advice

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 19, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760 "2013-05-19T21:16:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760/1 "2013-05-19T21:16:23Z")

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I’m going to Coimbra in Portugal for what is essentially a lads weekend, though some highbrow activities wouldn’t go amiss.

Does any one have any advice/tips/recommendations?

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760/2 "2013-05-19T22:40:02Z")

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There are Roman ruins there, but I don’t recall seeing the town in any detail.

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760/3 "2013-05-20T00:21:08Z")

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Moved Cafe Society --\> IMHO.

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**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760/4 "2013-05-20T01:14:30Z")

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IIRC Tuesdays and Thursdays are the student nights out, very much recommended (well it’s pretty much what the town is _for_, there isn’t that much else :D) I think you have just missed the “Queima das fitas”, the burning of the ribbons, quite possibly the craziest party in all of Europe.

Check out the students, they wear capes. See the rips they have in the bottom? If someone is a good friend they rip your cape with their teeth. Only a true friend would do it, because the capes are never washed! If you see someone with a red ribbon sewn in it’s because the person who ripped their cape died.

You’re close to Porto, so go to Porto to taste port!

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760/5 "2013-05-20T01:56:39Z")

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You’ll be very close to Bucaco Forest, which is a nice park.

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**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-coimbra-any-tips-advice/658760/6 "2013-05-20T21:32:01Z")

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The Roman ruins (Conimbriga) are outside the town, but they’re well worth seeing. Go and visit the library at the university - it’s very cool, and they keep bats inside to stop insects from getting at the books. It’s a nice town to walk around, they have trolley buses, there’s some excellent food, it rained so hard one day that we were there that there was a landslide… this is what I remember about Coimbra.